Afternoon Delight

Darling Reader, if we have never met, there are a few questions that can help me understand if we'll really get along. One is: do you appreciate the great works of Journey, Fleetwood Mac and Hall and Oates (it's sort of okay if a drink or two helps you to do so)? Another is: do you often take pause at furry animals and smiling babies, if only for a moment to think of how great it is that they exist? And lastly, and possibly most importantly (don't tell Steve Perry): do you believe in the power of the Afternoon Cookie?

Few things define "simple pleasure" as much as a detour in one's busy day to chow down on a very necessary cookie at 4:00 p.m. . No matter what all those lady health and fitness magazines tell you, a handful of nuts and dried fruit or an apple and a piece of string cheese are clearly only for the 10 a.m. munchies when you are still feeling virtuous and may very well be oblivious to how the rest of your day will unfold. Call me six hours later, when your lunch has started losing its satiating abilities, life has gotten REAL and you Just. Need. A. Cookie. And don't feel bad about it. Because I will totally be on board and bring you a really great peanut butter cookie like this one. Especially if you answered "yes" to the first two questions in the above paragraph.

I love the humble peanut butter cookie. It's an American classic, and its ideal, to me, is delightfully different from the fat, chewy Oatmeal Raisin and Chocolate Chip and the elegantly crisp Butter and Sugar. I think a great peanut butter cookie does have a tiny bit of chew, but only when you get towards the very center. Otherwise, a sandy texture is what I'm after with a crunch that comes not just from chopped peanuts, but from the sugars basking in a long baking time. And no peanut butter cookie worth its weight in Jif would dream of entering the oven without dressing up in a kicky crosshatch pattern provided by a dinner fork. Its ingredients are all staples in the traditional American home, making it one of the few recipes that doesn't require a special trip to the store. It's simple, earthy and undemanding, just the thing for the part of the day when things can start to get a little hairy.

Afternoon Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes about 4 dozen

2 sticks butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F and set an oven rack to the middle position.

In a bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and peanut butter together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating to combine. Mix in the flour and baking soda. Roll generous spoonfuls of the dough into golf-ball size balls and place onto the prepared cookie sheets. Use a fork to flatten and create a crosshatch pattern on the top of each cookie. Bake for about 20 minutes until the cookies are just begin to brown at the edges. Cool on the cookie sheet for two minutes, then transfer them onto a wire rack to cool completely.